NHL Barometer: Risers and Fallers

This week's article includes a buy-low candidate in goal for Seattle, Montreal's No. 2 center on a roll, a young winger in the Desert, a replacement blueliner for Fox on Broadway and the Bob on a heater.

First Liners (Risers)

Thomas Novak, C, NAS – Novak is doing his best to prove that his 2022-23 breakthrough campaign was no fluke. He tallied 17 goals and 26 assists in 51 games with 12 of those points coming on the power-play. Novak potted a goal and added a helper Saturday, upping his numbers to six markers and three apples in 10 contests. After a little bit of a slow start, Novak has hit the scoresheet five of his last six games while centering the second line in Nashville.

Sean Monahan, C, MTL – I profiled Monahan as a buy-low candidate a few weeks ago. To date, that prediction has proven right. Monahan added another assist Saturday, extending his point streak to five while upping his season mark to four assists to go along with his six goals in 11 games. Injuries and a decline in his performance has been the case since he tallied 82 points in 2018-19 as a member of the Flames. Centering the second line, Monahan has given Montreal all they could want at a very reasonable price, as he is on a one-year, $1.99 million contract. 

Troy Terry, RW, ANA – The hot starts of Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano have overshadowed the solid first part of the season for Terry. His production declined slightly from 67 points to 61 last season with the big variant coming in his goal-scoring, as he only lit the lamp 23 times in 2022-23 after posting 37 markers the prior season. In the first season of a seven-year, $49 million contract he signed with the Ducks in August, Terry has five goals and five assists in 11 contests, including a hat trick last Wednesday.

Alexander Holtz, LW, NJ – Holtz could have been the one highlighted as a buy-low. His helper Friday gave Holtz points in consecutive games for the first time this season. The 21-year-old winger is up to three goals, two assists, 14 shots on net and a minus-2 rating through 11 contests. He continues to play on the fourth line and second power-play unit but could see a bump in deployment with Jack Hughes (shoulder) sidelined. The offensive talent is there, it just has yet to be seen consistently, partially due to the depth in front of him in New Jersey.

Matias Maccelli, LW, AZ – Quietly, Maccelli is having a second straight productive season. Maccelli had 11 goals and 38 assists in 64 games last season, his first full season with the Coyotes. After going scoreless his first three contests of the year, Maccelli has hit the scoresheet in seven straight games, notching a goal and seven assists. Drafted in the fourth round (98th overall) in 2019, Maccelli is firmly entrenched as Arizona's second-line left winger and one of the points on the second power play.

Erik Gustafsson, D, NYR – Adam Fox's lower-body injury will sideline the elite blueliner at least 10 games, creating a hole on the power play. Stepping into the breach — at least initially — will be Gustafsson, who also is skating next to Ryan Lindgren, Fox's defensive partner. Gustafsson played last year for Rangers' coach Peter Laviolette in Washington, notching 42 points on the season, and signed a one-year, $800K deal with the Blueshirts. He had immediate success in his new usage, notching a goal and an assist Saturday against the Wild.

Filip Hronek, D, VAN – Most of the attention on the Vancouver blue line has been on Quinn Hughes due to his ridiculously hot start. But Hronek, who came over last season from the Red Wings, is more than holding his own for the Canucks. Hronek posted a career-best 39 points over 64 games between the two teams in 2022-23. This year, Hronek has yet to tally a goal but has 10 assists in 10 games with a plus-nine rating. His career-high in markers is nine, so don't expect a major change there, though he should continue to rack up assists in the Pacific Northwest. 

Sergei Bobrovsky, G, FLA – Bobrovsky, so far, has shown that last year's run to the Stanley Cup Finals was no fluke and that maybe the struggles he had since coming to the Panthers are a thing of the past. The Bob recorded his first shutout of the season and the 39th of his career Thursday against Red Wings. The veteran netminder has just one regulation loss in his last six starts, going 4-1-1 with a 2.15 GAA and .926 save percentage over that stretch. Bobrovsky looks locked in and should see most of the starts in net, with Anthony Stolarz the back up.      

Others include Ryan O'Reilly, Robert Thomas, Casey Mittelstadt, Mason McTavish, Marco Rossi, Luke Evangelista, Adrian Kempe, Fabian Zetterlund (someone has to score in San Jose), Andrei Kuzmenko, Pavel Mintyukov, Moritz Seider, Jacob Middleton, Quinn Hughes, Logan Thompson, Jordan Binnington and Lukas Dostal.

Buy Low

Philipp Grubauer, G, SEA – Grubauer looks to be rounding into form. After losing four straight contests to open the season on the heels of ceding his starting job to Martin Jones following a poor year and injury last season, Grubauer has hit his stride recently. Grubauer stopped 66 of 71 shots en route to a pair of wins in his past two starts. The success he had his final season in Colorado in 2020-21 seems even longer ago than two-plus seasons, but he is the starting netminder for the Kraken and should put up solid numbers if he is even passable between the pipes. 

Training Room (Injuries) 

Jack Hughes, C, NJD – Hughes, off to a monster start with five goals and 20 points in 10 contests, will miss some time after being called week-to-week with a shoulder injury. He crashed hard into the boards Friday against the Blues, resulting in the injury. There was initially speculation about a concussion, but while he's thankfully avoided that, he's still set for a spell on the sidelines. With Hughes and Nico Hischier (upper body) both out, New Jersey is a bit thin down the middle. Look for Erik Haula to possibly center the Devils' top line.

Adam Fox, D, NYR – Fox will miss at least 10 games and 24 days after landing on long-term injured reserve Friday. He was injured by what appeared to be a knee-on-knee collision with Sebastian Aho on Thursday against Carolina. Prior to being sidelined, Fox had three goals and eight assists in 10 games, with nine of the points coming on the power play. No specific timeframe has been provided as to when Fox will return. While he's sidelined, look for Erik Gustafsson to man the point on the first power play unit for New York. 

Others include Sean Couturier (lower body, sat Friday and Saturday), Dylan Cozens (upper body, missed Saturday's game), Filip Chytil (possible concussion, injured Thursday, out at least a week), Alex Killorn (finger, activated from injured reserve Sunday), Timothy Liljegren (ankle, injured Thursday, placed on long-term injured reserve Saturday), Carter Hart (mid body, day-to-day, injured Wednesday) and Igor Shesterkin (lower body, sat Saturday)

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CLM – Gaudreau notched 40 goals and 75 assists in 2021-22, his last season, with Calgary, then signed a seven-year, $68.25 million contract with the Blue Jackets in July of 2022. Most expected at least some sort of regression, and that certainly was the case, as Gaudreau fell to 21 goals and 53 assists in 80 games. In addition, his plus-64 rating in his final year in Calgary dropped to a minus-33 last year. This season, Gaudreau is off to a slow start with five points in 11 games and was benched in the third period Saturday. 

Hampus Lindholm, D, BOS – Lindholm gave Boston everything they could have hoped for and more in his first full season the black and gold last year. He provided a career-high 53 points (10 goals) along with a plus-49 rating, 56 PIM, 78 hits and 100 blocked shots in 80 contests. Part of that output was due to his power-play proficiency, as Lindholm had 17 points on the man-advantage. This season, Lindholm has yet to dent the scoresheet, as he has zero points through 10 games. 

Mackenzie Blackwood, G, SJ – It's almost unfair to include Blackwood here because his poor numbers aren't only due to his so-so play. It has been an ugly start to the season for the 0-10-1 Sharks. San Jose has scored a league-low 12 goals, while giving up a league-high 54 goals against. Blackwood has posted an 0-6-1 record, a 4.77 goals-against average and an .879 save percentage through eight appearances, ugly numbers, but seeing how bad the Sharks have been, could actually even be worse. Don't expect much from Blackwood.

Others include Nazem Kadri, Kent Johnson, Matty Beniers, Tyler Toffoli, Dominik Kubalik, Justin Faulk and Filip Gustavsson.

Sell High 

William Karlsson, C, LV – This one comes with a little bit of a caveat. Karlsson keeps rolling, recording four goals and seven helpers during his eight-game point streak through Thursday's game. On the face of it, with a career-high of 78 points (last managed in 2017-18) and a max of 56 points over the last five years, Karlsson would seem to be the prototypical sell-high candidate. He is to a certain extent, but Karlsson is surrounded by offensive talent in Vegas and him maintaining close to this pace would not be completely shocking.